Ferwan



(No Model.)

E. P. HEFFERNAN.

, WATCH OASE. No. 322,449. Patented July 21, 1885.

N. PETERS. Phoxmulhognpnnn waihnglen, D. C.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDVABD F. IIEFFERNAN, OF LOOKPORT, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ROBERT JOHN QUIGLEY, OF TORONTO, CANADA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,449, dated July 21,1885.

Application iled February G, 1885. (No model.)

T a/ZZ whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD FRANCIS HEE- EERNAN, a citizen of the United States of America, of the city of Lockport, in the county of Niagara, in the State oi' New York, now residing at the city of Toronto, in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, watchcase maker, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VatchCases;

IO and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

rl`he object of the invention is to construct a watch-case, in which the watch center or movement-ring may be made of less expensive material than that used in the back and bezel wit-hout detracting from its serviceability as a ring or center; and it consists, essentially, Iirst, in making the watch center or movement-ring slightly smaller in diameter than the back or bezel, to which it is hinged, the said back or bezel being arranged when shutto entirely inelose the center or ring, substantially as hereinafter more particularly explained;

2 5 secondly, to ferm snaps on the center, so that the back and bezel may be opened or closed independently of each other; and, thirdly, to forni the snaps on the back and bezel sufficiently far from their respective edge to per- Init the said edges to come together when closed, substantially as hereinafter more particularly explained.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a watchcase made in accordance with my invention,

the back and bezel being opened to expose the specific form of each part. Fig. 2 is an edge section of my improved Watch-case when closed. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of a portion of the back, exposing the form and location of the snap. Fig. 4 is an cnlarged sectional detail of a portion of the watch center or movement-ring, exposing the form and location ofthe snaps made on it.

A represents the watch center or movement-ring; B, the back, and O the bezel, the

three being jointed or hinged together as represented. rIhe outer diameter of the center or ring A is sufliciently less than the inner diameter of the bezel and back to allow the said center or ring to fit within the said bezel and back. Grooves co are formed around the outer circumference of the center or ring A,

Patented in Canada January 3l, 1865, No. 21,019.

forming two independent snaps, and around the inner circumference of the bezel and back I form the snap-edge c, a short distance from the edge, so that when the snap-edge c is sprung over the snap formed by the lip of the groove a the step vor portion of the back projecting beyond the snap-edge c shall extend half-way across the partition d, between the grooves a, so as to meet the edge of the bezel when both the bezel and the back are sprung over the snaps formed by the lips of the grooves a.. The abutting edges c ofthe back and bezel meet squarely against each other midway of the partition d. In this way the center or ring A is entirely inclosed by the bezel and back, and yet either may be opened or closed independently of the other, and should bot-h be opened at the saine time the ring or center is still permanently connected to them, and when closed there is only one seam, and it is practically invisible.

A Watcl1-case made in accordance with the foregoing description possesses the advantage of a case having an ordinary visible centernamely, the back and bezel may be opened and closed independent of each other-"aud, moreover, a case so made possessesthe advantage of an invisible center, thereby enabling 8O it to be made of cheaper material than the outer case is composed of without detracting from its value as a movement-ring or center.

I am aware of Patent No. 157,867, in which the ring has a groove in which is engaged a lip on the back case of the watch, the front case being in that construction engaged by a spring-catch operated by a th umh-piece, as is ordinary in hunting-case watches.

I attach importance to the abutting edges 9o c in their relation to the annular partition d.

Vhat I claim as my invention is rIhe combination, with the ring A, having peripheral grooves c, with partition d between them, of the back B and bezel G, each having lip c and square abutting edges c', the parts being so arranged that when the said back and bezel are closed the seam will be centrally over the partition, as set forth.

rIoronto, January 17, 1885.

E. F. HEFFERNAN.

In presence of- CIIAELEs MILLER, GnaRLEs C. BALDWIN. 

